...aren't taking chances.

I'm sure that the wild critters appreciate the food. As cold as it's been there, they were in a hazardous situation.

We found some blood on the outdoor kitchen floor, leading to the kitchen door. It's in quarter sized pools. I will feel better when all cats have come home to roost for the evening, though I think that it belongs to a rat that one brought home, but I can't be sure.

They are not here...normally I can find them out there in a heartbeat...because the next crew for removing trees is here, and it's *loud*, and the porta potty guy was here. Trucks come here, and Mamou is gone...until they are long gone. He even disappears when Ds drives up.

Yesterday, he was sleeping next to my legs, and Ds pulled up to get the gas cans. He jumped down, and I found him behind my chair, sleeping on the rug beneath it.

I hope that your stray is okay, too. You need to give him a nickname, so that you can just say it, and we'll know who you mean. Like, Lucky? Or, Julius (Orange Julius's, lol!), etc. :-)

I even have nicknames for my named cats, lol! Mamou, for example, knows his name, so we use it a lot, but sometimes I call him Fido, because he's so dog-like in some ways. When he does a dog-like thing, such as follow Dh through the house, I'll warn Dh: "Fido's behind you!" (So that he does not turn quickly, and step on him. It's happened, and no, Mamou doesn't change how close he gets. He's not dumb, he is just very stubborn when he wants to be close.)

His other name is Zippy. When he wants in the front door, which is now the more usual entrance point for them both, he...in his dog-like manner, scratches at the door to be let in. But, not the actual door. There's a piece of metal at the bottom which has little 3-D lines on it, for traction, I guess. Anyway, when he runs his claws over it, it makes a Zip, Zip sound, like a zipper. Uhura never makes that sound when she wants in. Then, I'll call out, when I hear him, "Zippy's home!" :-) So, he's primarily Mamou, especially to him, but also Fido and Zippy!

What a great 5 minutes with your squirrel! Cool beans indeed!